following an unknown path

pompoms and favor bags

Mom and I spent some time this week working on wedding stuff.

First, we started making things to hang at the wedding.

We will be hanging these tissue paper pompoms both in the tree and in the reception hall.  Have I mentioned we are having an outdoor wedding and are getting married under this great big, 200 year old tree:

I've always dreamed of an outdoor wedding.  As a side note, I always told my family that I'd get married barefoot in someone's backyard--it almost happened till mom found the inn.  And, well, I'm going to wear sandals because Lawrance thinks it's safer.

Back to the pompoms.  Mine will be orange, teal, pink, and yellow.  We also have some pomanders made out of several different colors of gerberas to hang from the tree.  Mom made those.

We also bagged candy that Lawrance and I picked out in Taiwan.  Traditionally in Taiwan, a bride and groom will stand at "the exit door" to thank all the guests for coming to their wedding.  This also ensures that everyone at the wedding has one more chance to congratulate the new couple. 

They stand at the door with their parents and pass out candy and cigarettes.  I'm not sure what the cigarettes symbolize; however, I do know about the candy.  :)  The giving of candy at the wedding symbolizes the guests sharing in the sweetness of the new marriage.  Or that the guests wish a sweet life on the new couple. 

Lawrance also told me that in Taiwanese the word for "candy" sounds like "di di" which means "little brother."  So, by taking the candy the guests are also wishing the couple has a son very soon.

One aspect of the candy is that I've been told to take the candy in even multiples.  In other words, never take just one piece.  Taking two pieces is important because you want the two of them to stay married forever. 

So, . . . Lawrance and I got some of the traditional wedding candy and also some other fun Taiwanese candy we thought Americans would like.  We aren't going to stand at the exit door at our American wedding, but we will give out the candy in little bags with an explanation of its cultural significance as our American wedding favors.  The little bags look so cute and make me very happy.

engagement noodles :)

Recently, Lawrance and I went back to Meinong with his family to celebrate our engagement. His grandmother was so happy for us, she decided to treat the whole clan to noodles! She reserved the restaurant and called all the relatives to come home for the weekend. It apparently was a BIG deal. :)

It's too bad I was sick. I was right in the middle of a cold at the time. It started on Thursday and was at its worst on Monday. Lawrance took good care of me though by forcing me to go see the doc who said the reason my "common cold" was so bad was because it had activated my asthma. So, once my airways were open again . . . I started feeling much better. So, today, Wednesday--I'm feeling better--and went to school for the first time this week. Now, if only I can survive the next two weeks!!

Anyway, back to this weekend, I am so blessed to be welcomed with open arms into this family. So many people I tell about our engagement are surprised at how welcoming the Wu family has been to "a foreigner" marrying into the family. Even non-believers have been telling me how much God is blessing Lawrance and me. How cool is that?!?!

See all you Texans soon!

With much love,
amanda :)

(Originally posted on June 11, 2008.)

sung chiang battle array (simply taiwan 8)

I don't have much knowledge of the Sung Chiang battle array (a form of martial performing arts) beyond what I observed the day I took these photos.  I took these photos not long after I moved to Taiwan and lived in Meinong in Kaohsiung County.  Two of my students invited me to a "fair" which turned out to be in reality a temple activity.  They had taken me to the annual Goddess GuanYing Festival at the Neimen Zihjhu Temple in Neimen, a city north of our school.

Neimen has reportedly around forty or fifty different battle array "troupes."  Several different troupes performed one right after another.  Each troupe had weapons and preformed to beating drums and gongs.  Some troupes had young and old alike all performing; some didn't include children.  Nearly all the performers were male.

Here are some of the facts about Sung Chiang battle array that I learned by reading this article online:

"Unlike many other traditional Taiwanese folk arts, the Sung Chiang battle array has never been recorded as existing in mainland China; it is purely Taiwanese."

"Many of the weapons used in the Sung Chiang battle array are actually farm tools--rakes, sickles, hooks, umbrellas--used by the early peasantry."

"The performances declined during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan (1895-1945) and today they are seen only during festivals, especially the birthday celebrations for Matsu (Goddess of the Sea), Emperor Paosheng (God of Medicine), and Cheng Huang (City God)."

"A full-size Sung Chiang team has 108 members; smaller ones have 72 or, at a minimum, 36."

"The performances vary but all include the same tactics, which add up to a total of 108."

"All team members must pray to Sung Chiang before a performance starts; and, at both the beginning and end of a performance, the performers gather at the temple gate (most often, performances take place in temple courtyards), raise their weapons high, and shout 'Ho! Ho! Ho!'"

Here are some of the videos I took of one of the troupes we watched:

The video below is of the troupe worshiping after performing. They start by worshiping the idol in the center, then move to the right and then to the left to worship the idols to the right and left of the center god.

Like I said yesterday, sometimes at temple performances there is a crowd watching and sometimes not. At this particular event, the crowd was huge! Here is only part of it:

drama performance for a god (simply taiwan 7)

Many Taiwanese worship a variety of Buddhist, Taoist, and folk deities. One of the ways Taiwanese people use to celebrate a god's birthday is a presentation of some sort to entertain the idols.  I've seen people showing god's live "opera like" drama performances, demonstrations of "the art of war," movies shown on screens stretched between poles, women scantly clad singing and dancing, and puppet shows. 

Recently, I also saw a mechanical version of what is shown in the very short video below.  Actually, there were five different mechanical stages set up around a traffic circle.

Sometimes there is a human audience watching as well and sometimes not.
 

men at work (simply taiwan 6)

No time to comment tonight, so I will simply give you a photo of one of my all time favorite signs in Taiwan!!  I love that the construction worker is wearing a pointy hat! :)

And, these guys below who are cleaning the street . . . I just love that their pointy hats are covered in bight-can't-be-missed reflective material!    Classic!

 

men and shopping (simply taiwan 5)

Some things--like men waiting at a shopping mall or women giving "the look"--seem to be universal and transcend culture.

I saw this scene when I was riding an escalator at Dream Mall in Kaohsiung City.  I thought it was so funny because these guys were doing the exact same thing their counterparts around the world do at malls--wait on their women. :)


Dream Mall (夢時代) is one of the largest malls in Asia--and opened about a year ago.  It is HUGE!!  And, there is even a Hello Kitty ferris wheel on top of the mall.  Including the "roof" (where the ferris wheel is) and the two basement levels, this mall has 12 floors in all!

Malls--as we know them in America--are not common here in Taiwan.  Instead there are "department stores."  So, Dream Mall is actually very special.

taking out the trash (simply taiwan 4)

There are very few things I don't like about Taiwan.  But, I seriously hate tossing the trash in Taiwan (and I consider hate a very strong word, so I'm not using it lightly here).

At different times though out the day a trash truck will drive through every neighborhood.  Each trash truck announces their presence by playing an electronic version of Beethoven’s “Fur Elise," which to the unknowing American sounds like an ice cream truck.

Each neighborhood/city is a little different, but each has their own trash truck traditions. 

At my old house, people from two apartment complexes all gathered along the alley in front of the buildings, the trash truck stopped and literally about 100 people tossed trash into the back in about 5-10 minutes each night.  We all knew that the truck would arrive at about 7:30, so at about 7:20ish people started heading downstairs and gathering out front to wait.  I, however, lived on the 2nd floor near the front entrance, so I would wait till I heard the tinny melody to grab my trash and head out the door. 

The nice thing about that neighborhood was that about 30 minutes later another truck drove down a side street, so if I missed the 7:30 trash truck, I could meet the 8:00 trash truck. Now, the 8:00 trash truck didn't stand still.  People would stand outside their "townhouse-like" homes with their trash, and as the truck slowly drove by they would toss in their trash.

This phenomenon is something that can't be captured by words and photos alone, a video is necessary to help you experience this.  So, without further adieu, here is a trash truck I got stuck behind while on my moped one night.

I always wondered what in the world I would do if I always worked nights and could never be home to take out the trash between 7:30 and 8:00.  In some neighborhoods, the trash truck comes during the day . . . and I do wonder what people who don't work from home do about their garbage.  Hmmm . . .

Ok, now let me just take a second to further justify my hatred for tossing trash.  It is not just that I have to be responsible for taking out my trash and tossing it myself.  That's ok.  But is the fear that I've done something wrong and will have to dig in the trash to undo my mistake.  You see, they have strict mandatory recycling polices here.  And, if you throw out something that should be recycled, the garbage guys (aka trash nazis) will tear open your bag, and make you take care of it the right way. 

Once, right after my neighborhood started to recycle food scraps, I included egg shells in my food waste pile.  I thought egg shells were supposed to be good for compost piles.  Except, I later learned food scraps collected on the back of the trash trucks in blue barrels are not for composting but for feeding pigs.  So, when the trash nazi saw my egg shells in the blue barrel, he made me dig through the pile of food scraps to remove them.  All the while, people were tossing their garbage bags over my shoulder as I diligently stuck my hand into that disgusting mess of pig slop and dug out all the egg shells big enough to see with a naked eye.  YUCK!

Recycling trucks tag along behind trash trucks on certain days of the week--playing a different song (yes, at the same time).  But, that's a story for another day.

For now, here are four more Taiwanese trash truck videos I found online.  Enjoy!!!

Here is a link to a one minute video that is pretty good but can't be embedded.

frozen delights (simply taiwan 3)

There were many times I told my cousins "you've not really been to Taiwan if you haven't ________."  And, one of those "fill in the blanks" was "eaten cuo-bing" (剉冰, shaved ice).

Cuo-bing is a wonderful Taiwanese delight!!  Cuo-bing is shaved ice topped with yummy stuff.  I like it topped with either fruit or an assortment of chewy things.  And, traditionally it is topped with things like peanuts, beans, sweet potatoes, or taro pieces.  In addition to these yummy things, a sweet syrup water is poured onto the ice and sometimes sweet condensed milk is also added.

The above photo was taken at a self-serve cuo-bing shop at a night market.  You fill up the bowl, they weigh it, and then top it with ice and the brown sugar water.

Here are some fruit topped bings I've enjoyed:



~*~*~
Here are some of my students enjoying a great big bowl of fruit bing:



~*~*~
This one is a more traditional bing one of my friends enjoyed--it is topped with green beans, herbal jelly, and peanuts:



~*~*~
These girls are enjoying ice covered with green beans.  Yeah, I prefer mango too. ;)



~*~*~
There are many kinds and types of cuo-bing. And . . . they are so YUMMY!!!!

shopping carts (simply taiwan 2)

In order to keep carts on supermarket grounds, they are chained together.  

To use one, you need to insert a 10NT coin (a coin about the size of a quarter worth about 33 US cents) into the gray device and then the red part of the chain unlocks and lets you pull the cart away.

When you are done using the shopping cart, you can return it to any location that has another "red handle device."  Once you plug the red thing back into the gray thing, your money is returned to you. 

I suppose this also helps to discourage shopping carts from being left abandoned throughout the parking lot.

simply taiwan--a new series

Something new for following an unknown path is about to start . . .and I need your help.

Recently, I've been uploading my older photos onto my flickr account.  Photos I took before I had a blog, and so have gone largely unseen by others besides myself.  Also, life here is getting a little more busy--it always is a little more hectic at the end of the semester than at the beginning.  In other words I have no time to compose thoughtful, relevant posts.

So, I'm going to try something new.  For the next 46 days at least (that is till I get to go home, Lord willing), I'm going to be doing a series of simple posts featuring photos I've taken while living in Taiwan for the past five years.  (I may or may not post other kinds of posts during this time . . . I've yet to decide.)

But, I'd like your help.  What are some things you'd like to see photos of?  So, you wanna see food? bathrooms? public phones? mail boxes? people? temples? flowers? landscapes? You name it or ask about it, and I'll search my photo archives, and if I don't have a photo of it already--I'll see if I can take one just for you. :)  Be as specific or as general as you'd like.

The other thing I'd like to do is answer questions you might have about life here in Taiwan.  Awhile back, Deborah, from Cup of Joy, interviewed me for her March missions month, and I really enjoyed answering her questions.  It allowed me to talk about things that are close to my heart but that I don't think about mentioning anymore because they seem so common place now.  So . . . what would you like to know about life in Taiwan?  Ask away, and I'll try to answer.

paper umbrellas

The city I first lived in when I moved to Taiwan is famous for its handmade paper umbrellas.  Above is a picture of some of my students being silly with one of the paper umbrellas I have in my home. I love the expressions on their faces!! :)

Five years ago, when I was living in Meinong, one of the ladies at the souvenir store near my home showed us (I was with one of our short term teams) how they made paper umberllas.  So, below is a slide show of the pictures I took of her demo.  You can also see all the photos with descriptions of what she is doing on the flickr set page.

onions, onions everywhere!!

On Friday of last week, I took a trip to the southern tip of Taiwan with some fellow missionaries for a April Birthday trip.  We had a lot of fun.  One of the things we saw were onion crops EVERYWHERE and some of the crops were being harvested.

I'd only seen the onions for sale down there, never before had I actually seen an onion field or warehouse.  I couldn't believe the massive quantity of onions!!  I saw in one hour more onions than I have in my whole life combined.

and . . . . WOW!!  I never knew onions grew like this--breaking the surface of the ground when they are ready to be harvested.  Too cool!

Never cease to learn.  Never cease to be amazed.

birthday cakes galore!

One of the benefits of having 8 hours of class on my birthday is that over 140 people sang happy birthday to me!

And . . . three of my classes surprised me with cakes!!

The first class actually used another student from another class to tell me they were in an assembly in another building, and our class would be canceled and I was free to go home.  I walked by their classroom before my class and it really was empty (little did I know they were hidding in the stairwell).  I debated for a moment whether to trust them or not.  I decided they were trustworthy.

I sent a text to one of the students and told her what I expected them to have completed by our next class.  But, about 5 min into class time the three guys in the class came into my office and told me the assembly was over and they were ready for class.  So, we all went back to the classroom.  I was thinking about how amazing these kids were since they were willing to have class even though they actually had a free pass for the final hour of the day. 

When we walked into the classroom, there was a party going on. :)  (Can you see the numbers on the cake?  That's right . . . 18!!!)



___
They had transformed the chalkboard into a giant birthday card.



___
Another class came back from the break during the second hour of class with a cake . . . and so we had a party too! :)



___
Even though my last class wasn't over till 9:00 and I didn't get home till after 9:30, some special friends were waiting for at my neighbor's home with pizza and cake to celebrate with me.  I don't have picture of that cake, but here I am with my neighbor and her daughters. (I don't know if you can tell, but to me, I look SO TIRED.)



___
Then the following day, 15 minutes into class, some of the "absent students" came in carrying a cake and singing "Happy Birthday!"  First thing one of them told me after singing was "you can't count me tardy" (apparently, I'm known for being strict about that.)



___
Then later during the week of my birthday, a dear friend, Anna, stopped by with a beautiful little cake to help me celebrate my birthday.  She had seen my blog on Monday and thought I needed some cheering up--isn't that so sweet!!



___
So, if I had to be in school all day on my birthday, it was nice being surprised so many times! :)  And, I also appreciate the others who through out the week made me feel special too. :)
 

an important thing to remember

When seeing historic sites, don't forget to visit the 7-11s!!

at the GuGong

I got to go back to the GuGong (aka National Palace Museum) this past week!  It was maybe my 14th or 15th time to visit this great art museum.  :)

Taiwan's GuGong is one of the top five museums in the world.  I love going there.  Each time I go I get to see something new.

This time I got to go with a friend who loves looking at art as much as I do . . . maybe even more!  It was wonderful to take a full day just to enjoy beautiful things together. :)

an afternoon out and about

This Sunday, some of my former students from my former school came to Tainan for a "graduation trip."  They invited me to join them on their adventures around town.  Tainan is the oldest city in Taiwan and is full of historic sites. If I have to live in the city, I'm glad it is a city with history. :)

Whenever I see people drinking out of bags, it always amazes me.  Some of my students bought yellow colored sodas in bottles.  The store owner poured their drinks into baggies for them, added staws and tied them off.

Here is a pic of the whole group that came up from Kaohsiung for the day, plus their teacher Kady (my good friend and fellow Tainan-person) and me.

And, one of the highlights of the afternoon . . . . holding a baby!!!  Rio's daugheters came with her on the outing, the oldest one (who is now two) has to be distracted in order to let me hold her or interact with her, but the younger one reached out for me as soon as I joined the group.  Sigh . . . how sweet.  Even though I've not blogged about them in a long time . . . yes, the mommy longings are still strong. :)

at the strawberry patch

Yesterday, I joined a few of my students for a fun little adventure.  We rode out to a strawberry patch in Tainan county and picked strawberries. 

I'd never done this before, and it was kinda fun picking and choosing the reddest berries I could find. 

And they are so delicious!!  Wish yall could come stop by for some strawberry shortcake tonight!

earthquakes

There is nothing quite like be awoken in the middle of the night by an earthquake.

This one last night woke me up enough to experience it and to think "wow, this one is kinda big. Father, thank you for keeping me safe and please help anyone not ok because of this earthquake."

Then I fell back asleep and forgot all about it till this morning when another smaller tremor shook me just now.

Last night's quake wasn't actually all that big; only 5.5 at the epicenter.  And about 4 here where I live.  But, I now live on the 7th floor--I've never lived quite that high before which affects the intensity of the quake with it feeling stronger on every floor you go up.

God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.  So we will not fear, even if earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.  Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!  . . .

The nations are in an uproar, and kingdoms crumble! God thunders, and the earth melts! The LORD Almighty is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress.  Come, see the glorious works of the LORD . . . "Be silent, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world."  The LORD Almighty is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress.  (Selected verses from Psalm 46)

the beauty that is taiwan

All of these photos were taken by my friend Karen, a missionary to the Hakka people here in Taiwan.

All credit for the beauty of Taiwan goes to the greatest, most creative artist ever, God.  What a privilege to be surrounded by his masterpieces!!

fireworks and chinese new year

"[The Taiwanese] people take their fireworks extremely serious," as another Amanda living in Taiwan said a few weeks ago.  And she is very right!

There are fireworks that swirl, fireworks that explode into sparkling red hearts, and fireworks that burst into two or three colored smiley faces.  It's amazing what fireworks can do!

The first time I celebrated Chinese New Year in Taiwan, I could NOT believe the amount of fireworks and firecrackers that were used during the celebration of the New Year.  It begins on or even before New Year's Eve.  ALL NIGHT LONG firecrackers and fireworks explode seemingly EVERYWHERE. 

That first night, something cracks, whizzes, or pops at least every ten minutes.  And, sometimes the cracks, pops, and whizzes last for ten consecutive minutes. 

And, we are not talking only formal displays from cities, schools, and companies.  We are talking normal people shooting off fireworks (in the little allies between high rises).  And, they don't just go off at night, sometimes firecrackers and even fireworks are lit during the day.  This year when we were at the day market on New Year's Day, someone lit fireworks over the market area at 10 in the morning.  We were sprinkled with ashes.  It's crazy, I tell you!  Crazy!!

About two or three days after the New Year the use of fireworks and firecrackers slows down a little until the Lantern Festival, which this year is on the 21st.  (As I write this, on Thursday evening, I've already seen eight different firework shows from my study window in less than an hour!)

Below are two videos taken at my friend's school on Chinese New Year's Eve.  They are each about one minute from about 10-15 minutes of a fireworks show at her school.  So, just multiply each video by about 7, and you more or less can get the full effect.

According to my Chinese teacher and a video we watched in Chinese class (11 years ago!  oh my!!), firecrackers are a part of Chinese New Year because of a legend about a dragon named "Nian" (which is the same as the Chinese word for "year").  This man-eating dragon descended from the mountains every year in the winter to devour humans before going back into the mountains to hibernate.  One year the townspeople, of a village that was often preyed upon decided to take action and fight against Nian.  They exploded bamboo that had been filled with gun powder in order to try to scare Nian away.  And, it worked!  So, they were able to "guo nian" (過年) or "pass over Nian," and as long as they did this each year, he didn't bother their village.

Again, it sounds like this legend could have roots in the Old Testament, right?  Could Nian be the Chinese version of the angel of death from the tenth plague?  I don't know, maybe.   

But, I do know that the longer I live in Taiwan, the more convinced I become that there will be regular displays of amazing firework shows in heaven as we celebrate the Risen Savior! 

It's gonna be awesome yall!! :)

red envelopes

Perhaps the part of Chinese New Year that is most look forward to by children is the part where they get "red envelopes" (紅包).  Inside the "red envelopes" is MONEY!!

Just like gifts under the tree at Christmas time make American children giddy with excitement and expectation, the thought of getting a red envelope does the same to Taiwanese children. 

If you do not yet have a full-time job, you can expect to get red envelopes from your parents, aunts and uncles, as well as from your grandparents.  So, all children and many young adults (those still in college) get red envelopes.  Also, if you have children who are old enough to have jobs, you can expect to receive a red envelope too.  So, grandparents usually give and receive red envelopes, but the middle aged "sandwich" generation--those with both children and elderly parents--find themselves only giving away envelopes.

(I know that online some sites say all unmarried people receive red envelopes despite age, but in practice here in Taiwan, this is not true.  It seems that only non-workers--the young and the very old--receive red envelopes.  If you work, you are expected to give.)

I've asked several of my students how much money they can expect to get in total from all of their red envelopes.  I've been told amounts as low as 6,000 NT (about 190 USD) to amounts as high as 30,000 NT (about 940 USD).  I think the average falls around 8,000 to 10,000 NT (250-315 USD). 

I also asked how much they could expect to find in one envelope.  And the typical answers I get include amounts between 800 NT (25 USD) to 2000 NT (62 USD).

How much you receive in all depends on how big your family is, how many relatives you see during the New Year holiday, and how generous your extend family is (which seems to be dependent on how well business went the previous year).

I don't know how much grandparents typically receive from their working children and grandchildren.

Red envelopes are often passed out after that big New Year's Eve dinner, but this is not necessarily the only time to gift some one with money wrapped in red.  When an aunt or uncle comes over they pull out the red envelopes and the little ones line up to say good words to the aunt or uncle and in return they get a red envelope.  Or, when you go over to grandma's and grandpa's at some point they will pull out red envelopes to give to the grandchildren. 

In fact, just like we have the "trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat" line for Halloween, there is something similar in Chinese for red envelopes that goes like this "Congratulations and good fortune; now bring out the red envelope!" (Of course in Chinese it rhymes and sounds much better.)

Like most papers in Taiwan, red envelopes should be both given and received with two hands.

And, not to be left out of the festivities, many times, pets also get red envelopes too!  Gilby got one his first Chinese New Year.  Inside his "hong bao" (red envelope) was a 50 NT coin (worth about 1.50 USD).  The person who gave it to Gilby told me wrap the envelope around his collar (kinda like the cat above).

One more fact about red envelopes . . . . they are not always just plain red.  Often times there are blessings on them or sometimes even cartoon characters on them--again in either black or gold ink.

Oh, yes, and red envelopes are also used to gift money at weddings and on other occasions too.  So, unlike Christmas wrapping paper, red envelopes are used year round (of course if they say "happy new year" that wouldn't be true).

Photos come from flickrites who've given permission to blog their photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.